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Thursday, September 20, 2012

Writing Poetry Challenge: Tip 16 ~ Time to Write to Music Like You Never Have Until Now

Before I sat to write this tip – one I firmly believe in – I
did a brief perusal of other people’s ideas on the subject. I was pleased to
discover the majority of the people I agreed with me regarding the best genre
or type of music to listen to while you are writing poetry.

Even if you read this tip and think it is nuts or you could
never do that, I want you to think of two things: there was a time before I
became a professional writer that I thought this was hooey also. Secondly, if
you don’t give it a go, how will you know?

Tip #16 – Make your poetic musical accompaniment be of the non-lyric
variety. No, I am not suggestion muzak, I am suggesting classical music from
composers such as Mozart, Chopin,Brahms,
Haydn and many others as well as Celtic Music, Jazz instrumentals, Nature
Sounds, music by Igor Stravinsky (if you haven’t heard of him, start listening
now… he is so inspiring) etc etc etc.

If you MUST listen to music with lyrics, choose lyrics outside your
language. One of my favorite places to find any writing musical accompaniment
is RadioSwissClassic. If they have vocals, it is in Italian or German or
French. The DJ’s speak… yes, in Italian or German or French.

Remember the Mozart Effect? Well, later researchers have
found evidence it isn’t very effective in the long run, but the arousal
experienced while listening to a Mozart Sonata increases while listening and up
until 15 minutes afterwards.

How can it hurt your poetry to try it?

If you end up trying it (and do so for a significant amount
of time) and hate it, then switch it up and listen to music thematically.

Writing love poetry, listen to love songs.

Writing confessional poetry, listen to ballads.

You get the idea. Now pop on over to these resources to listen to some exceptional music. Then try writing to it. If these classical types aren't for you, Google "Jazz Instrumentals" or "Celtic Instrumentals." You may even surprise yourself with what you come up with while listening to violins and drums. Sometimes it is World Music that does it for me. Experiment, play, write better poetry than you knew you could!